Snapchat, Kik, WhatsApp: The new generation of mobile messaging

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Snapchat, a popular photo messaging app, reportedly turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook to buy the company, according to the Wall Street Journal. The application lets users take and send pictures to friends that expire within 10 seconds or less.

Facebook’s offer to the 2-year-old company comes at a time when people are flocking away from the site with the emergence of new social media and messaging systems. Last month, Facebook’s CFO admitted the site was seeing a decrease in daily users.

What other messaging apps are young people using? With all the messengers teens and young adults can use—Facebook, Twitter, Kik, Snapchat, Cubie, Hike, etc.—what factors determine whether these apps will be successful? And what is it about Snapchat that allowed its 23-year-old founder to turn down $3 billion?